Monday, May 23, 2011

Richard Katz on New York

"The girls all come for publishing and art and nonprofits," he said. "The guys come for money and music. There's a selection bias there. The girls are good and interesting, the guys are all assholes like me. You shouldn't take it personally." Jonathan Franzen, Freedom (2011) p. 358

It's taken me over two months, but I'm finally free of Jonathan Franzen's Freedom. It started with a reading group over Spring Break but took me a bit longer -- sorry Alexis. I was disappointed not be transformed by Freedom as I was with The Corrections. Franzen is an amazing wordsmith and his social portrait is so accurate as to make our generation feel a mere embodiment of Franzen's pen. I won't tire anyone with my musings on the novel but I wanted to share three favorite quotes, starting with Richard Katz's assessment of why it sucks for young women to move to New York. Katz here consoles Jessica Berglund.

1 comment:

We need to talk about Freedom. I agree with what you say here about the shockingly accurate social observation-- the quotes you reproduce are amazing examples of that. That's my favorite thing about Franzen, and it makes me feel a profound connection to him. But I want to hear about what disappointed you...